Part 4: Next generation
by cherrishish
Summary: Another ten years had passed and everyone had settled into a life of peace and growth, nurturing the younglings of the next generation. Except Alphonse who always seems to get the short end of the proverbial stick life has to offer. After his marriage fails he returns to Amestris, unsuspecting of the journey he is about to embark on. In a foreign world nonetheless. fem!Ed AU.
1. Feeling left behind

**A/N: This a three-way crossover between FMAB/Avengers (MCU more accurately)/HP, starting from Amestris, meeting the Avengers right after where Part 1 left off, then working up to HP which will be the primary focus, so that's why I put that on here. I'll explain later how exactly HP and the MCU are in the same world and why Ed hadn't realized, don't worry. Bear with me until everything is set up :)**

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 _ **Chapter 1: Feeling left behind**_

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Standing in front of the apartment door of his sister's place on an early summer Sunday afternoon, Alphonse Elric hesitated to knock. It really shouldn't have given him such trepidation since there wasn't another person on this planet whom he had a deeper, more fundamental connection with than Edeline Elric. In every sense of the word, ever since their failed human transmutation at the ages of ten and eleven irrevocably so. Their shared Gate was a great attestation to that. Their devotion to restoring each other's bodies without caring for their own was another. Always placing the other before themselves.

And yet here he was rooted in his place, agonizing over what he was going to say to the former Fullmetal Alchemist about his reason for being there. You see, she had no idea that her brother was going to visit her, for Ed thought that Al was in Xing, holding the position of ambassador between their countries, now for the tenth year, and blissfully married to Princess Mei of the Chang Clan.

At least that's what his letters to her would have suggested, but it hadn't been true for the last five years if you considered the 'blissfully' part.

When they had gotten married at the age of 21, this really wasn't the way they had imagined their lives. After the many hurdles fate had already thrown at Al, he thought he could overcome anything. Especially if he had his loving wife at his side. But things started going downhill when they decided to have children and couldn't conceive for three years. They visited all the doctors they could find in Xing and even in Amestris – although the real reason for his visits he had never revealed to Ed at the time – but after two years they still had no answers. Al himself theorized that he had become sterile because of the five years he had spent in front of the Gate, in the most crucial time of his teens when his reproductive system should have fully matured with the cocktail of hormones young boys' bodies ought to release in that time frame.

Edeline Elric was the epitome of misplaced guilt. She had only recently overcome the immense weight of what she had perceived as solely her own sin and which had forced her brother to live as a suit of armor, condemning him to an existence where he couldn't feel, eat, sleep. Al knew she would blame herself all over again if she were to learn of the other consequences that time period might have had, not that her brother would ever hold those events against her. And yet the younger Elric wasn't really sure if he could lie convincingly enough to fool her.

Mei and Al had considered the option of adoption, even did all the paperwork and waited patiently for the call that would inform them that there was a baby just for them. And the longer they waited, the more he felt his princess drift away from him. However hard she tried to compromise, adoption wasn't truly what she had wanted. Mei always fantasized about carrying _his_ child in her womb. In the end, she wasn't able to let go of that expectation of what their life should have been, and it wedged itself in their relationship.

Alphonse saw it happening, tried everything in his power to stop it, but there was a point beyond which he alone was just not enough to keep a relationship going. So in their third year since the adoption papers were put in, after a heartfelt talk and a lot of crying, the Elric-Changs came to a mutually agreed split.

So here he was, a divorced man at the age of 31, in front of his sister's door and he had absolutely no idea what he ought to say to Ed to prevent it from escalating into what she always did: hating herself all over again.

Taking a deep breath, he knocked despite those worries.

After a few seconds, the tell-tale dissimilar footsteps on the tile floor could be heard from the other side of the oak wood door, and a blond woman with golden eyes, barely over five feet tall, dressed in only a white tank top and black shorts opened the door.

For a moment Al thought his sister wasn't happy to see him, her face held a mixture of confusion and alarm. And then he heard Winry's voice from inside. "Who is it, Ed?"

A few moments later the taller blond woman came into view too, and it took every ounce of his self-control to look utterly elated when he hugged the very pregnant looking form of his sister-in-law.

"You guys are expecting? Congratulations!" Al gushed.

An even greater shock awaited him when two toddlers came rushing in, both with brilliant golden eyes.

"Momma, look what we drew!" the little girl called in enthusiasm, waving a piece of paper while the boy who looked to be the same age nodded eagerly as he jumped up and down in excitement to make his point.

"Al, meet your niece and nephew, Maisie and Tristan," Winry beamed with the sense of pride that only a mother was capable of.

"Uncle Al!" they exclaimed in unison, both running up to him. Apparently, he was talked about in the household even if they didn't bother to inform him that the family had expanded.

During all this Ed stood there still, like a deer caught in headlights.

"Hey, kiddos!" Al enveloped them in a huge hug, looking up questioningly at his sister behind their backs.

Winry caught onto the tension growing between the siblings, so she ushered the kids out so that they could talk peacefully.

"Maisie, Tristan, why don't you guys grab a snack from the kitchen and play in your room for a while?" the mechanic instructed her younglings, who were oblivious to the adult matters unfolding in the room. They ran squealing with utter delight at the prospect of cookies that had just about cooled off to an edible temperature on a plate on the counter.

"Ed, I thought you told him," dark blue eyes glinted with scolding as Winry straightened up, placing her hands on her hips.

"I was planning to…" the ex-alchemist scratched the back of her head, full of embarrassment. She really was planning to, but she didn't know how to break the news to her brother when she knew they had been trying for so long without success.

"It's fine Winry, I understand," Al cut in with a sad smile.

"I just didn't want to rub it in, when you and Mei couldn't…" Ed sighed, fiddling with the side of her face and a strand of hair on it while peeking up at his brother.

"We split," the younger Elric blurted out. There wasn't an easy way to go about this.

"Oh, Al…" Winry was the first to react, hugging her brother-in-law comfortingly. "Why don't we sit down?" she said after a few minutes, guiding both of her childhood friends to the couches.

"What happened?" Ed asked with a little snarl. She wanted to protect her brother so badly. From all of this. He deserved so much more from life.

"It just wasn't working out. She wanted to have children of our own, and I couldn't give her that. Adoption just wasn't the right option for us," Al sighed. He was emotionally numb to it all already.

"Did you visit Dr. Marcoh?" the ex-alchemist inquired. She was grabbing at straws, she knew that. But she would have given anything if it meant that her little brother was happy again.

"The Stone had been used up since, but even if it wasn't, I'm not sure I could have lived with that," the younger Elric shook his head at that suggestion. "But yes, we visited a number of doctors over the years."

"Do you guys know what the problem is?" the mechanic asked. Fixing things was her domain, and she knew quite a lot about anatomy because of her line of work.

"Nothing definitive, but I have my theories," Al shrugged in resignation, he caught Ed's eyes and the look she was giving him. This was exactly what he wanted to avoid. "Don't even go there, it's not your fault."

"So what now?" Winry looked at the siblings.

"We got a divorce, I resigned from my position. I could join the military, work with you, maybe?" he proposed. With that hopeful expression, he looked every bit like the little boy that he used to be.

"About that…" Ed trailed off nervously. That wasn't really an option anymore.

"Ed quit four years ago when Mustang became Führer. That's when we started thinking about children," Winry finished for her. That was one of the happiest days of her life when she finally didn't have to worry about her wife getting herself killed in some military operation.

 _Made sense_ , Al thought. That was Ed's promise, and she had fulfilled it, so there wasn't really anything holding her there anymore. She had given more than her fair share to their country.

"I wanted to ask about that. How…?" he switched topics to the technical parts of childbearing in a lesbian couple.

"We had an anonymous sperm donor. Same one now for Winry. We agreed that each of us should have the experience of childbirth once," Ed explained. That would have been Al's guess too.

"So am I going to have another niece or nephew? When are you due?" Al beamed. He was truly happy for them. He could live with this. Being a devoted uncle, living vicariously through Ed and Winry.

"End of August. They are twins again based on my size. Supposedly it's very common with artificial insemination. We wanted to keep the genders a surprise. They would only be able to tell us a guess anyway, from the way I carry. Too bad we don't have those ultra-whatever machines like on Earth, the ones Ed talked about. They seem handy for all sorts of medicinal purposes. You can see inside the human body with it! Can you believe it?! I wonder how they work, wish I had one to take apart…" the blue-eyed girl rubbed her belly lovingly as she ranted on about her love for machines.

Two more months and the house would become even livelier. Al looked around thoughtfully. Too lively for a two-bedroom apartment.

"Are you guys moving then?" the alchemist inquired, ignoring her gear-headed ramblings.

"Back to Resembool actually. Next weekend. Granny isn't doing so well. Old age is finally catching up with her," Winry muttered wistfully.

Pinako was pushing ninety. It seemed like a logical step to move back and help out.

"What about the shop and this apartment?" Based on the letters he got, their auto-mail business was booming, now they had a branch both in Rush Valley and Central, besides the odd job that came in through Resembool that so far Granny was able to handle.

"I have enough employees to keep the shop running in town, I will come up once in a while to check on them to make everything is going fine. We were thinking of renting out the apartment," the mechanic waved off the concerns. They could more than afford for her to take off time to raise kids. By all means, she would still take the more urgent cases back home, or the ones that specifically requested her. No one had delusions that Winry would stop working just because she popped out a few kids.

"Do you guys think, I could maybe lease it?" Al probed hopefully. It would have been perfect. He would come and visit often, but he didn't want to impose on their lives.

"You can have it, of course! But don't even think about giving us any money for it!" Ed burst out so loudly that the kids came rushing in to see what was going on.

"Momma!" Maisie ran to Winry for comfort, frightened but the raised voices. "Mommy is being mean again."

Tristan just eyed the adults with a suspicious glare, making his way in a more sedated pace to Winry, clinging to her arm.

"There, there, Mommy didn't mean to shout. She was just excited that Uncle Al is moving home," she lovingly soothed the little ones with a warm hug, pulling them up into her lap.

Maisie glanced at Ed through her tears then leaned towards her to be taken over. Ed reached for her with a shit-eating grin, always surprised when she was favored over Winry.

"I'm sorry, Maisie," the ex-alchemist murmured into her daughter's ear as the toddler hugged her around her neck.

"It's okay, just don't let it happen again," Maisie pulled away with a serious face – the expression much too comical on a three-year-old, but very similar to the scowl that Ed used to always adorn – wriggling her finger admonishingly at her mom. A second later she hopped off, her tears long forgotten, grabbing her brother's hand to pull him with her and they were off again.

"Wow, I'm not sure which of her mom's she takes after more!" Al laughed out at the exchange.

"Her!" both Ed and Winry exclaimed at the exact same moment, pointing at each other. Then they both chuckled.

"I know she is not mine by blood, but she is every bit my daughter. At the beginning of spring, she started taking an interest in auto-mail. Tristan is a lot like you actually, Al. And Trisha, his namesake." the pregnant blonde mused with a small tear escaping her eyes. "Calm and gentle, always the peacemaker, following Maisie wherever she takes him."

"What names are you thinking of for the little ones?" the younger Elric questioned further.

"Well if both are girls, then Sarah and Nina. For boy names, we were thinking Juri, which is a variant of my father's name, and maybe Noel if both are boys," Winry listed the options while Ed leaned back, her hand over at the small of her pregnant wife's back, rubbing it. She knew from experience that was the most tender spot in these months, especially towards the end.

"Beautiful names," he had to agree.

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 **A/N: Chapters might come sparsely for a while because I'm still working on another story, but I just wanted to put at least the first chapter out so that if you want you could follow it. All thoughts and comments are welcome on the basic premise of the story so far.**


	2. Plans for a new beginning

_**Chapter 2: Plans for a new** **beginning**_

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Ed and Winry insisted on him staying for dinner. They had quiche and pie. Both were on Al's list of favorites. The rest of the evening they kept the conversation on kid-friendly topics. The little ones were really a delight, the younger Elric had to admit.

After leaving and checking himself into a hotel room, Al lay there contemplating his options. He was an alchemist and alkahestrist. He wasn't sure what he could do besides something to do with the military. Even his ambassador job was related to that given the country's form of government, and he had always spent all his free time learning new things about his chosen craft. Ed wouldn't like it if he joined the State Alchemist program, he was sure of it. But Führer Mustang – or Grumman, his predecessor, under whom Al had become ambassador – was very different from Bradley, and he had a healthy dose of respect for the Elrics so he wouldn't assign him to anything too dangerous if he could help it. _Maybe I could do research_ , Al wondered.

So on Monday morning, he gave Roy's office a call to request a meeting. Unsurprisingly, he was given an appointment in a matter of hours. So as a result, there he stood in front of the Führer's office at 11 AM sharp.

With a confident knock on the door, he walked right in. It was almost as if he was taken back in time. Sure, everyone was a bit older, but the team was the same. Al relished in the familiar, friendly faces that greeted him.

"Alphonse!" Riza – now a brigadier general it seemed – was the first one to react to him like always. As she stood from her desk, the younger Elric couldn't help but notice the small baby bump she was adorning under her uniform.

"Ms. Hawkeye. I believe congratulations are in order," he offered, hugging her once she made her way to him. Fate really played little, twisted jokes on people sometimes. All he saw were pregnant ladies around himself ever since they started trying without success.

"Oh, quit with the formalities already. It's Riza," she laughed out, her demeanor much more jubilant than usual. Whether it was due to the blissful effect of pregnancy hormones or the ring on her finger Al couldn't tell though.

"How's the Chief?" Havoc – promoted to colonel – inquired about their favorite little red runt. The office had become very dull without her presence over the years.

"Let me guess, she doesn't really come by even though she lives ten blocks away?" Al sarcastically remarked before giving an actual answer. That would be so much like Ed. "They are doing good. They have twins, three-year-old toddlers, Maisie and Tristan. Another two on the way. This time Winry carrying them."

"Wait a minute! Fullmetal is a mom? I mean she was the one actually pregnant the first time around?" Havoc spluttered his coffee before firing off his questions.

"Yup," the younger Elric rolled his eyes. _Yeah, she didn't tell me about it until yesterday either_ , he would have wanted to add. "So who's the lucky father?" the golden-eyed blonde asked innocently from Riza, switching subjects. Mustang's team stifled a few snorts in response. "What am I missing?"

"Well, in your defense it was a very low-key ceremony two years ago and wasn't publicized. But it's Roy. I'm Mrs. Mustang now," the sniper offered as an explanation with a wry smile.

She didn't add that technically they had been married for eighteen years because of a drunken night on a mission in a foreign country because that would have been self-incriminating. The anti-fraternization laws have only been abolished since Mustang took office four years ago. Besides the two of them, there were probably only two other people who knew. The priest and the foreign monarch who signed off on the certificate. Not even the team had a clue, they covered their tracks so well. For a while, they had the suspicion that Hughes was onto something, but with his untimely demise, the secret died with him on that end.

"How the hell did I not see this coming?" Al mused out loud with wide eyes. He prided himself on the fact that he was able to notice the blossoming relationships between people before even they knew about it themselves.

Before Riza could reply, the Führer stepped out of his inner office, with his usual unreadable poker-face on.

"Alphonse. Come on in," he beckoned, effectively shutting down the chit-chat. The young man followed him back inside. As Al sat down in one of the armchairs in front of his desk, Mustang continued. "I was sad to receive your resignation from the Xingese ambassador position."

"Personal reasons were at play, Sir," the blonde offered as an explanation. "Mei and I divorced last month, and I just didn't feel it would be the right life choice for me to stay so close to her."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Roy wistfully remarked but didn't push the issue further.

"I hope you were able to find a suitable replacement on such short notice," Al stated with genuine concern. He didn't want to leave them in a pinch.

"Yes, it's all taken care of, don't worry," the raven-haired man waved off his worry with a less severe expression. "So, what can I do for you today? I assume it's something urgent if one of the Elrics requested a meeting with the Führer."

"It isn't urgent per se. Before we get on that, I wanted to offer my congratulations to you, Sir, on your marriage and your upcoming fatherhood," the former armor-dweller smirked at Roy's frightened expression at that.

"Yeah, well… I'm not sure I'm cut out for the second part, and Riza has been worried that being 45 for her first pregnancy isn't exactly ideal…" he trailed off with a frown.

"I'm sure it will work out alright, Sir," Al reassured the country's first man.

"So anyway, let's get to business," Mustang switched topics with a sigh.

"I was wondering if I could join the State Alchemist program, as a research alchemist perhaps, in one of the labs," the younger Elric revealed his primary reason for visiting.

"Does Ed know?" was the first thing Roy blurted out, eyebrow raised. The last thing he needed was his volatile ex-subordinate to burst into HQ and make a scene.

"I have mentioned it to her that I wanted to join up to serve with her, but at the time I didn't know yet that she had quit the military. She conveniently left that out of her letters as well as the fact that she had two children in the four years since I last been back to Amestris," Al snorted sarcastically. Based on the Führer's wide-eyed expression that had been news to him too.

With the clearing of his throat, he quickly recovered from the shock and continued.

"I see no problem with you joining our ranks. There will be an official entry exam in three weeks if you can wait until then, or I can organize one for you in…" he looked at his calendar to check when he was available in the near future. "Two days' time if necessary."

"No, three weeks is fine. Ed and Winry are moving back to Resembool with the kids anyway, so this way I can help out," when Mustang looked at him with a confused expression at that statement, he elaborated. "Winry is pregnant with twins, and the apartment is too tiny for a family of six, not to mention Granny is getting really old, so she could use the help around the house."

"I see. Very well, then I hope to see you on the 17th of July," the Führer stood to shake hands with his visitor. "You have living arrangements sorted out, right?" he asked as an afterthought. He could get him a place at the barracks if all else failed, despite the fact that Al wasn't officially enlisted yet.

"Yeah, I'll be in a hotel till next week, then after the move, I'll just use Sister's old apartment," the younger Elric shook his head to indicate for the man not to worry on the matter.

"Welcome home, Alphonse. It's good to have you back," Mustang offered with a smile.

"It's good to be back, Sir," Al beamed right back at him, then took his leave.

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Pondering what to do with his free time until the weekend and the move, the blond man decided to take his niece and nephew out to the park. When he arrived at Ed's apartment to pick the kids up, there was a great surprise waiting for him.

"Elicia!" the former ambassador exclaimed when she was the one opening the door instead of his sister or sister-in-law.

"Big Brother Al! You are back!" the now twenty-year-old young woman squealed in delight, practically jumping into his arms like she was still a toddler, barely giving Al enough time to catch her.

"God, it's been so long. You were like fifteen or something when I last saw you," the younger Elric enthused with almost equal fervency at the girl in khaki shorts and flowery top that brought out her green eyes.

"Don't remind me. That was my awkward phase," she giggled whole-heartedly hugging him around the neck. Al just chuckled at that. Elicia never had an awkward phase. She was a beautiful little girl all the way through, and now she had matured into womanhood.

The toddlers scurried out of the kitchen to see what was going on at the door.

"Uncle Al! Pick up us too!" Maisie commanded, tugging at Al's pant legs when she realized that their "auntie" was lifted up from the floor in a bear hug.

"Demanding little thing, aren't you?" the golden-eyed man cooed with a laugh as he placed his "little sister" down to give his attention to the younglings. Tristan wasn't as vocal about his desires, but you could tell from the look on his face that he wanted to be held too. "Come here, you little rascals," he beckoned, tickling the twins until they howled with laughter before giving in and standing up with them in either of his arms and started for the kitchen where he assumed Ed and Winry were.

"Where are we going? Elitia is taking us to the park!" Maisie protested with a pout at their direction, not quite able to correctly pronounce the name yet.

"In a minute, just let me say hi to your parents," Al shook his head in mirth. Strong-willed like her mothers alright.

"Hey, Al! We weren't expecting you. We just had lunch, but there is some left if you are hungry," Winry looked back over her shoulder as she did the dishes, Ed enlisted for drying duty.

"Thanks, but I already ate before coming," the younger Elric declined, kids still on his arms.

"Mustang gave us a call a few minutes ago…" the ex-alchemist huffed thoughtfully, not glancing up from the plate and towel in her hands.

"Ed!" her wife admonished pre-emptively. It wasn't any of their business what her brother was going to do from now on, but knowing the smaller blond woman she was going to give a piece of her mind to him anyway.

With a pointed look and sigh, she continued despite the blue-eyed girl's interruption. "He just wanted to congratulate us on the growing family and inform me of your plans to make sure it wouldn't come as a surprise to me."

"And did it come as a surprise?" Al probed tentatively.

"Not really," the blonde in the black top and red shorts sighed again heavily, placing the stuff in her hand down on the counter and faced her brother squarely. "Look, you know I don't want you to sell your soul to the military."

"Uncle Al, are you in trouble?" Tristan asked quietly, unsurely glancing between the adults, for once Maisie staying quiet as she watched the tension grow in the room.

"No, I'm not, just Mommy's not very happy with something I've decided. Why don't you guys wait with Auntie in the living room for a second then I'll come with you guys to the park?" Al suggested to the kids, gently situating them on their feet on the tiles.

With a heavy nod, Tristan headed that way, but Maisie hesitated for a second before speaking up.

"Mommy… Uncle Al is a big boy already. You don't need to tell him what to do," she declared earnestly before running after her brother.

The three blondes peered between in each other for a second before bursting out in laughter.

"Oh for Truth's sake, how did she get so smart?" Ed shook her head between chuckles.

"I have no idea, she is your daughter though," Al jabbed good-humoredly.

"Let me pack some snacks for you, go talk in the bedroom till then," Winry tried shooing them out of the kitchen to have some heart to heart.

"No, it's alright. Just try and don't get yourself killed, okay?" the shorter blonde said as a peace offering to her brother.

"I'll probably be a research alchemist anyway. The new labs are quite something I heard," the younger Elric shrugged, although the idea was becoming more and more inviting to him.

"Oh, fine. You have my blessing, okay?" Ed relented finally, hugging her brother. "Now go take the kids out of our hair so we can pack, alright?"

"Shouldn't I stay and help instead?" Al inquired. It just felt wrong to leave the girls to manual work, especially with one of them pregnant.

"Just fucking go already!" his sister insisted, practically pushing him towards the living room.

"Ed! Language! They might hear you!" Winry swatted at her with the dishtowel.

"Oops," the short blonde mouthed with mock horror, earning the displeased shake of her wife's head.


End file.
